LVDell

They aren't.

raineycd

Oh, just remembering a post where you only ran N tires...

LVDell

The point?

While I prefer n rated tires, I have grown tired of the money Michelin wants for a set of ps2's. So, I looked into alternatives based on experience from others as well as load ratings.

niner niner seven

to each his own. i just found the V12s not to be on par w the ps2s. i can only speak from my actual practice. from now on i will go w only the n rated whichever the brand.

doubleurx

If you track your car you will miss out on much better performing tires. I still think the "N" rating is an absolute scam.

Kevinmacd

I agee, my last car a 996 Carerra had the PS2, I switched to Bridgestones, and for the street they were an excellent tire. Never tracked the car. I kind of agree on the N rating, evertime a tire mfg makes a change Porsche just changes the N rating to to the next number. So from my perspective, if you keep within the load rating and speed rating an equivelent tire should be fine. at least for the street. Dell thanks for the update. I think I am going to pull the trigger soon on these. Keep us posted as time goes on!

LVDell

It not that the N rating is a scam but I don't think it's the gold standard that it once was with all the options we have and the development of other manufacturers that cater to high performance cars. If you understand what our cars need in a tire then you can shop outside the N rating. The biggest thing I saw in earlier years (and even now) is that the non N rated tire had to low of a load rating for the REAR TIRE. If you do your due diligence and know that the rears of these cars are HEAVIER than the front you will be fine. Last time I checked, not a single of my r-comps are n-rated. But then again, they have proper load ratings and I know my street tires don't take the abuse my track tires see.

In the end, I will buy non N rated tires as long as the load rating is proper and the reports of the sidewall strength (nothing I hate more than a sloppy sidewall), handling, and wear are up to par.

With that said, the PS2 is an amazing tire and has nailed the load ratings and sidewall perfectly. Just not for ~$1700 installed.

doubleurx

The N rated tires have a load rating between 1477 and 1653. If you go to tirerack and plug in all tires in the rear stock size of 295/30/18, no tires are less than 1477. Even the Kumho SPT has a load rating of 1653. The only ones lower are a couple of the R compound Hoosiers. I would not doubt some beneficial agreement between Porsche and Tire manufacturers to agree on "N" rating and which tires achieve it.

LVDell

Not quite sure I follow what you are saying.

raineycd

The July 2010 Pano on page 72 has a great article of the history of Porsche and tires and how the N spec came about.

From my viewpoint reading it, the N spec was not that the tires were better than others, but that Porsche has tested the tires and approved them and then required the manufacturers to N spec it so they would not change the characteristics of the tires. Apparently there were some problems in the past where same brand/model tire would be slightly changed and that made some ill effects to handling...

My only concern with N spec tires is they are locked in time and do not account for new advances in technology as quickly. Until Porsche tests a new model and N specs it...

So N spec does not mean it is better, it just means it is tested and locked so you know if you get a N spec PS2 for example, it will be the same as long as the same N spec is purchased.

Does anyone know if Porsche tests all the brands or just cherry pick the one or two brands that they feel like putting on the new models?

raineycd

He was responding to your concern about non-N spec tires and their sidewall and load rating. So he just did a quick search of N spec tires and got their load rating as a reference and then looked up non-N rated tires and for that same size, they had similar load ratings.

So basically, load rating does not seem to be an issue with non spec tires.

doubleurx

I am saying that the N rating really doesn't differentiate itself from other tires by the load rating, as pretty much all tires given the same size (at least on Tirerack) are equal in that characteristic. Obviously side wall stiffness and tire weight probably play a role as well, but there is no numerical data for sidewall stiffness.

doubleurx

Rainycd is faster than me!

raineycd

And a side note, N spec is not model specific to my knowledge. So a tire for a Cayman is N spec as well as a 911 which would need a different characteristic for proper handling and load rating in the rear...

LVDell

Damn y'all are quick today!

Anyway, as long as the load rating, wear characteristic, and handling is on par then there is ZERO reason to stick solely with n-spec. Tires (non n-spec) have come a long way since Porsche starting doing n-spec.

As a scientist I am very pragmatic about my decisions. In this case, I think I found a winner. I just got back from another long drive and then really put the tire through it's paces. Feels really good under the car.